The present invention relates to an electronic commerce terminal for conducting credit card, e-mail, e-commerce, e-business, and other types of transactions from a public transportation vehicle. Public transportation vehicles can include taxis, airplanes, buses, trains, subway, trolley, streetcar, and other public access modes of transportation. An electronic commerce terminal can be referred to as a pervasive computing device. In addition, the present invention relates to a universal advertising and payment system and method for networking, monitoring, collecting data, selling goods and services, controlling interactive advertising, controlling and effectuating electronic commerce and controlling vending equipment. The present invention also relates to physical and virtual networking of vending machines and network hardware, server based network control, and network security. The present invention can be implemented in a manner to allow operational monitoring and control of networks (and network hardware), vending machines, electronic mail (e-mail), electronic commerce (e-commerce), electronic business (e-business), payment for goods and services, delivery of goods and services, and advertising worldwide.
The growth of the Internet has created a new way to buy, sell, trade, and barter goods and services worldwide. This new form of buying, selling, trading, and bartering may commonly be referred to as electronic commerce or e-commerce, and or electronic business or e-business. The process of conducting these types of transactions can be called an electronic commerce transaction, electronic business transaction, e-commerce transaction, or e-business transaction.
With the continued growth of e-commerce and e-business type transactions the reliance and dependence on these forms of business may continue to grow. A user may be required to have access to the Internet in order to conduct e-commerce and e-business transactions. This may require a personal computer with modem or network access to such resources as to enable a user to connect to and access resources on the Internet.
The cost and or availability of a personal computer may be a limiting factor to virtual companies desiring to sell goods and service by way of e-commerce and or e-business type transactions. In order for a virtual company to reach a user, the user may need to have access to a web site by way of a computer. If the user does not own a computer an e-commerce or e-business type transaction may not be able to be effectuated. In so much the appeal and reach of a virtual company can be limited by the number of points of access users may have access to.
Placing personal computers in the public may offer additional access points to reach virtual companies by way of the Internet. However the form factor (size, shape, cost, and packaging) and the maintenance required to maintain peak performance can be a limitation that could prevent wide spread usexe2x80x94instead public personal computer may be better suited for niche markets such a universities, and libraries.
In addition, public access to a personal computer in the general public might lack the necessary privacy and security needed to make a user feel comfortable enough to transact e-commerce and e-business.
Non-PC based devices such as digital wristwatches, personal data assistants, cellular telephones, pagers, and digital personal organizers may offer limited interconnection capabilities offering various forms of PC-based data storage or other types of support software. For example, a wristwatch or personal data assistant can download or upload information to or from a PC. This can be a convenient way to manage large amounts of data, including contacts, schedules, notes and address for use on the PC, and at the same time transfer data between portable device to keep the data current in both. In many cases, unless data is exchanged frequently either the portable device or the PC can become outdated. Where a user has a portable device, a home computer, and a work computer as many as three different databases may exist. Often these related databases may be unsynchronized (not up to date with one another) or out of date.
As more portable devices are developed more portable device software is produced to allow PCs and portables to swap data. This may make managing databases more difficult in that a single user may have more than one portable device that requires data synchronization on a regular basis. For example a user that owns a wristwatch, cellular phone, pager, and personal data assistant may be requires to synchronize databases with all four devices and a work PC as well as a home PC. In this case there is a chance that one or more of the portable devices, or PCs may have an inaccurate database as a result of not having been synchronized with the other related databases.
A deficiency with portable digital devices and PCs can be that when both systems share a common database maintaining that database can be difficult. Further, the ability to update these devices may not always be possible. For example, when an office PC has the master database and a portable device is not at the office the data in the two systems may not be able to be synchronized.
Furthermore, when data is altered in a portable device the PC database may become unusable or contain unreliable data until a synchronization event occurs. Likewise when a shared database is altered on the PC the portable digital device may become unusable or contain unreliable data until a synchronization event occurs.
With the advent of e-commerce and e-business type transactions, the need to synchronize databases between portable devices and PCs may increase. In certain situations information required by a user in the public, for instance at a grocery store, may be contained on a PC at home. In this case the data may be inaccessible and as a result the consumer may not be able to complete a transaction.
Furthermore, a user in the public away from the home PC or office PC may miss an important E-mail, or inner office document simply because the portable device the user is carrying can not be synchronized with the home or office PC.
As individuals become more reliant on the Internet for e-mail, e-commerce, and or e-business the demands for access to the Internet may increase. In addition, to the buying, selling, trading, and bartering supported on the Internet other services vital to daily business may also be performed online. The escalating demands for access to the Internet can result in increased e-commerce and e-business transactions. As a consequence the demand to have more access to the Internet in the public may grow.
There are numerous problems for Internet based businesses (referred to as virtual companies or virtual businesses) in that increased competition on the Internet may see their growth and profits diminish. The barrier to entry of a virtual company can be little more than a computer hooked to the Internet. As more web sites appear selling similar products, a virtual company""s ability to differentiate itself from other virtual companies may diminish. Head-to-head competition and transaction processing fees may shrink profit margins, potentially jeopardizing an entire business enterprise.
In addition to virtual companies having to compete with other virtually companies, virtual companies have to compete with brick and mortar type companies. Brick and mortar type companies may be referred to as physical companies. Physical companies are companies with physical locations that the public can access.
Physical companies may have several advantages over virtual companies including being able to accept alternative forms of payment (cash, checks, etc.). It may be much easier for a company with physical locations to expand by developing an Internet business, then it is for a virtual company to expand by buying or building physical locations.
The above aforementioned support for the long felt need of the present invention can be expressed in general, as the growing need for public Internet access. More specifically, the need to access and synchronize portable and fixed data resources, network resources, as well as Internet resources and content while transacting business in public places.
The present invention relates to an electronic commerce terminal for conducting credit card, e-mail, e-commerce, e-business, and other types of transactions from a public transportation vehicle. Public transportation vehicles can include taxis, airplanes, buses, trains, subway, trolley, streetcar, and other public access modes of transportation. An electronic commerce terminal can be referred to as a pervasive computing device. Furthermore, the present invention is embodied in a simple and effective system and method for processing a wide variety of credit card, e-commerce, and e-business type transactions, to name a few. In addition the present invention embodies a universal control and payment system to distribute and display interactive advertising, conduct electronic mail, electronic commerce, electronic business, and control the billing for the use of vending equipment. Vending equipment can include copiers, phones (public, private, cellular), facsimile machines, printers, data-ports, laptop print stations, notebook computers, palmtop computers (PALM PILOT), microfiche devices, projectors, scanners, cameras, modems, communication access, personal data assistants (PDA""s), pagers, and other types of vending machines, personal computers (PC), PC terminals (NET PC), and network computers (NC).
One aspect of the present invention provides a system for public access to electronic mail (e-mail), electronic commerce (e-commerce), and electronic business (e-business). More specifically, the present invention can control, monitor, and effectuate e-mail, e-commerce, and e-business transactions such that the general public can use the present invention as a public access electronic commerce station. E-business includes data communication related to business activities, and includes financial related information, and public transportation information
Another aspect of the present invention provides the ability to route e-mail, e-commerce, and e-business transactions, allowing e-mail, e-commerce, e-business transactions including credit card and other types of transactions to be processed in an online environment.
It is understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive of the invention.